Top-ranked Lincoln, Grand Valley State Look for First National Indoor Crowns

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the final regular-season rankings of the 2011 indoor track & field season for NCAA’s Division II on Monday. As has been the case for fourth-straight week in the women’s rankings, the national top three remains unchanged with Grand Valley State, Lincoln (Mo.), and Ashland holding down the top spots going into the national championships. Lincoln (Mo.), Ashland, and Saint Augustine’s remained in the national top three for another week on the men’s side as well.

The NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place this weekend, March 11-12, in Albuquerque, N.M. Rankings this week are compiled using only data from those who have declared and been accepted into the championships.

PDFs: Top 25 | Full by Team | Event-by-Event | Week-by-Week
Previous Rankings | Rankings Guidelines & Rationale

NCAA Championships Field Summary: By Team | By Conference

NCAA.com Championships Page

With 14 entries and 13 from sprints and hurdles, No. 1 Lincoln (Mo.) leads the national men’s field in the categories. No. 3 Saint Augustine’s men has 11 entries total, seven in the sprint and hurdles and three in the jumps. No. 4 Adams State is the third-leading team in entries with 10, including a meet-best four entries in the middle-distance events.

Adams State is the defending national men’s team champion. Damon Martin’s squad won last year’s event — the school’s first NCAA indoor title in history — with a 89-72 victory over Saint Augustine’s. Should top-ranked Lincoln win, it would be their first national indoor title in their history.

On the women’s side, No. 1 Grand Valley State with 19 entries betters any other team by seven in the category. The Lakers have a meet-best six middle-distance entries, four in distance events and a tied meet best with five entries (Ashland) in the throws. No. 2 Lincoln (Mo.) and No. 3 Ashland each have 12 entries in the women’s meet. Lincoln is tops in the sprint and hurdle entries with ten.

Lincoln’s women were the victors in the 2010 indoor meet, scoring 56 points to Ashland and Grand Valley State’s 47 for their second-straight title. Top-ranked Grand Valley State and third-ranked Ashland has never won NCAA indoor women’s team titles.

About the Rankings
For more on the rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit …
http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings

The purpose and methodology of the national team computer rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national-title race – not as a method to compare teams head-to-head.

The Regional Index is determined using a similar method as national rankings, but on a smaller scale, comparing teams versus others within the same region. The result is a ranking that showcases squads with better all-around team potential — a group makeup critical for conference or similar team-scored events. A team may achieve a better regional ranking than a counterpart that has a better national ranking. Historically, some teams are better national-championship teams than conference-championship teams, having a few elite athletes that score very well in a diverse environment where teams do not have entries in more than a few events. Some teams are better at conference championships or similar team-scored events where they enter, and are competitive, in many of the events.

How a team fares in a national championship, conference championship, or scored meet with only a couple or few teams (like a dual or triangular) can be very different, given the number of events, competition, scoring, and makeup of entries — thus the rationale behind each of the ranking systems. Similar arguments about team makeup and rankings can also be found in swimming & diving and wrestling as their sports also have a similar trichotomy when it comes to team theory.